Two Former Maple Leafs Players Suddenly Hit Waivers Ahead of Season
Photo credit: Toronto Maple Leafs
Two former members of the Toronto Maple Leafs organization have been placed on waivers.
As teams begin cutting down their roster size to prepare for the NHL's regular season a week way, teams are in the process of waiver decisions.
The Leafs placed three players on waivers yesterday, Vinni Letteri, Travis Boyd, & Benoit-Olivier Groulx, all of whom cleared today.
For some teams, the process has already begun with sending juniors players back to their respective teams, but for veteran pros on current deals, difficult decisions are being made for players on NHL rosters.
Who Are the Former Leafs Players on Waivers?
Forward Dominic Toninato has been placed on waivers by the Chicago Blackhawks. The 31-year-old center has played in 189 career NHL games with the Colorado Avalanche, Florida Panthers, & Winnipeg Jets.
Toninato appeared in five games last season for the Jets, going pointless. In the AHL, Toninato had 18 goals and 36 points for the Manitoba Moose, the Jets farm team.
The Chicago Blackhawks signed Toninato to a two-year, two-way contract in the offseason at $850K annually.
Toninato was a fifth round pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, 126th overall. The Leafs did not sign Toninato after his college career, later going on to Colorado.
The 6'2 forward has shown he can be a reliable depth option for a club, but has mostly been an AHLer who has shown he can come into NHL games when needed.
The Tampa Bay Lightning placed forward Scott Sabourin on waivers. The 33-year-old winger has 47 NHL games in his career with the Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs, & San Jose Sharks.
Sabourin appeared in just one game last season for San Jose, spending a majority of the season with the AHL San Jose Barracuda, with 10 goals and 25 points in 68 games played.
As a Leaf, Sabourin spent the 2020-21 season with Toronto, where he was mostly on the team's COVID taxi-squad, playing just a single game for the Leafs and six for the Toronto Marlies.
In Toronto, Sabourin is perhaps more known for a moment in which he was not in a Leafs sweater, but on the receiving end of a moment in which Auston Matthews checked his name during a preseason game in 2019, the two latter becoming part of the same organization later on.
Sabourin signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning in the offseason.
A 6'4 winger, Sabourin is someone with AHL experience where if he clears will be relied upon to be a physical presence, and a potential NHL call-up.
Both Sabourin and Toninato are expected to clear waivers, but are both reliable veterans who can see chances to prove themselves at the NHL level in the regular season.
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